History Main / SinisterSurveillance

[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'', obviously: Dr. Claw has cameras ''everywhere''. Including, occasionally, Gadget's ''house.''
* Used occasionally in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', which is often lampshaded by writer commentary. One episode in particular has the Joker show fellow villains a recording of a time he took over a late night television show - a video that includes camera shots backstage and all around the studio, in angles that shouldn't be possible. Another has Batman watch security videos of Mr. Freeze's origin, which for some reason includes close ups and camera cuts, as though someone not only used a film camera but edited it as well.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', Batman himself became guilty of this and developed a citywide surveillance system called the "Bat-Probe" that automatically alerted him and the police any time a crime was committed, no matter how minor. FairPlayVillain The Weeper declared that Batman had gone too far, especially after witnessing a child be intimidated into returning a pack of gum he stole, and teamed up with ComicBook/TheJoker to put a stop to it.
* Aku has a variation on this in ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''. In his lair, he has a magical screen which lets him keep an eye on wherever Jack is at every passing moment. The only time the screen was shown failing was when Jack entered a holy area, which caused the screen to display static- the joke was compounded further by Aku banging on it like an old TV.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', Dr. Robotnik often made use of stealthy, floating camera robots to spy on Sonic and his friends...''Popular Science'' had an article on similar technology in development by the US Military.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' when the family are on the run. We see a huge room full of government bureaucrats listening in on inane conversations until one of them overhears Marge on one of the bugs they installed on a train. The bureaucrat joyfully leaps up and declares, "We found them! The U.S. Government actually found somebody we're looking for!"
* The 1987 ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon was particularly bad about this, as Shredder could pull up live surveillance feed from pretty much anywhere he damn well pleased. Sort of becomes a case of FridgeLogic when you consider that he was still never able to locate the turtles' lair.
* Soundwave from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' seems to be keeping tabs on ''everyone'', in the premiere he's able to intercept communications between the Autobots and Agent Fowler without leaving the Nemesis. Aside from spying on enemies, he also keeps tabs on his fellow Decepticons [[TheStarscream in case any are plotting against Megatron]]. Made creepier by the fact that the only times he talks is in a [[IronicEcho distorted repeat of another character's dialogue.]]

* Benson of ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' attempts this in the episode "Peeps", when he sees that Mordecai and Rigby start slacking off whenever he's not around; It goes too far when he calls for the maximum version of his surveillance system: A living, floating eyeball named Peeps that stalks everyone. Fortunately, Rigby knew how to cheat on staring contests at the time.
* Ever notice the frequent triangles and eye-like symbols around WesternAnimation/GravityFalls? Those are there due to the influence of [[EldritchAbomination Bill Cipher]], and they act as peepholes through which he can watch the material realm and plot his next moves. In "Gideon Rises", it's also revealed that Li'l Gideon was using pins with tiny cameras in them to spy on the town and seem like a psychic.
* The ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "Kiss Me, I'm Foreign" involved [[CitizenshipMarriage Rocko getting married to Filburt so he doesn't get deported.]] Throughout the episode, the deportation worker is ''constantly'' watching Rocko to make sure that he and "Ophelia" aren't faking their romance.

** It should be noted as well that only London uses the Oyster Card.q

* Taken UpToEleven in ''Literature/PosterGirl'' were the tyrannical Delegation mandated that every citizen recieved an eye implant called Insight, that would constantly monitor absolutley everything the person sees and does, and either reward or punish them for just about everything. When the Delegation was overthrown by a revolution, ironically only it's surviving loyalists and members still have their Insights, everyone else had their removed [[spoiler: or so they think.]]

* ''SpyXFamily'', "[[Recap/SpyXFamilyMangaGreatCruiseAdventureArc Great Cruise Adventure Arc]]": Thanks to the bugs the otherwise unidentified surveillance expert "Snoops" planted around the ''Princess Lorelei'' cruise ship, he can hear everything that's going on around the ship, with the exception of a few select spots.

* Public transportation systems as buses, trains, etc. often have cameras. However, they're more of a deterrence against vandalism than anything else -not that vandals care too much about them-, and the vehicle's driver must often turn on them to start recording when there's trouble onboard assuming (s)he notices it.

* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'': Parodied in the 16th issue of ''The Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century'', a comic book tie-in to the ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' animated series. What looks like an enigmatic villain observing the heroes and President Wazzo on a monitor turns out to be Starfinger watching a television set while it's still on display at a store so he doesn't have to buy it.

* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': In the authoritarian country of Alderode, the BackgroundMagicField has been modified to allow the government to identify, track, and even disable or kill every citizen. They use this extensively to keep control of dissidents.